Bangladesh collpase in face of huge chase

2 overs Bangladesh 111 for 6 (Mahmudullah 6*, Mashrafe 8*) need another 237 runs to beat England 347 for 6
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	Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott put on 250 for the second wicket, a record for England in ODIs © Getty Images
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England's cricketers were closing in on a crushing victory in the third and final ODI, as Bangladesh's batsmen faltered in pursuit of a vast target of 348 and slipped to 111 for 6 after 22 overs of their run-chase at Edgbaston. Piqued by their defeat in the second match at Bristol on Saturday, England stepped up their intensity for the series decider, and with Ajmal Shahzad leading the way, put themselves within touching distance of a record-equalling fourth consecutive series win.

If Bangladesh were to have any hope of getting close to England's total, then they needed a turbo-charged start from their star batsman, Tamim Iqbal. He began at a decent lick, with three fours from his first 13 deliveries, but then took on Shahzad with a booming cover-drive, but ended up skying a slower ball to Luke Wright at long-on. At the other end, Imrul Kayes leant into a sumptuous square drive to suggest that his eye was still in after his heroic 76 at Bristol, but it was to be his only scoring shot. At the end of his third over, a pumped-up Shahzad banged in a fearsome lifter that flicked the glove through to Craig Kieswetter.

Junaid Siddique top-edged a Tim Bresnan short ball for six before denting Shahzad's figures with two fours in two balls. Shahzad left the field after four overs with a tweaked hamstring, but Bresnan responded with a slower ball that Wright did well to intercept as he reached high to his left at mid-on. Jahurul Islam rode the short ball well to crack four of his five fours through the leg-side, before Stuart Broad cramped him for room with a well-directed lifter, and Andrew Strauss was on hand to pocket a looping top-edge.

At 77 for 4 in the 16th over, damage limitation was the only realistic option left to Bangladesh, but before any sort of consolidation could get underway, Mohammad Ashraful sold his partner Shakib Al Hasan an outrageous dummy as he turned for a second run and changed his mind in mid-pitch. Paul Collingwood had time to slip as he gathered the ball but still recovered to whip off the bails (86 for 5).

Ashraful was the next to go, as Ravi Bopara struck third ball to continue an impressive comeback game by pinning him lbw for 13 with a skiddy full-length delivery, leaving Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Mortaza to pick up the pieces.

50 overs England 347 for 7 (Strauss 154, Trott 110) v Bangladesh

Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott produced the highest partnership in England's one-day history, surpassing the 226 that Strauss and Andrew Flintoff produced against West Indies at Lord's in 2004, to atone for their team's failings during their historic defeat at Bristol on Saturday, and set Bangladesh a daunting target of 348 in the third and final ODI at Edgbaston.

Stung into action by their five-run reversal in the second match two days ago, England's second-wicket pairing left nothing to chance as they batted in tandem for exactly 40 overs of the innings. Strauss was the star performer with 154 from 140 balls, his fourth and highest ODI hundred but his first since the tour of the Caribbean in March 2009, while Trott put to one side the bitter memory of his last-over dismissal to Shafiul Islam at Bristol to improve on his career-best for the second match in succession.

Following on from Saturday's 94, Trott made 110 from 121 balls before flatbatting a pull to Shakib Al Hasan at midwicket, whereupon Luke Wright - pushed up the order to exploit a flagging attack - wafted a massive mow through to the wicketkeeper, Jahurul Islam, to depart for a first-ball duck. Paul Collingwood averted the hat-trick (just), as Mashrafe Mortaza completed his spell with the excellent figures of 10-2-31-3, but he was the only Bangladeshi to keep a lid on England's aggression.

For that, the credit belonged to Strauss, who once again belied his self-appointed reputation as a "stodgy" opener to blister along at a tempo rarely witnessed in England's one-day history. In all he struck 16 fours and five sixes, each of them deposited up and over the leg-side boundary, as he took personal responsibility for Saturday's setback to put England's one-day revival back on track. The innings wobbled through a late clatter of wickets, as six wickets toppled between overs 41 and 47, but Ravi Bopara slammed 45 from just 16 balls in the dying moments to reapply the swagger.

It was a commanding performance against a Bangladesh team that was unable to raise its game for a second match in succession, and what is more, England had to earn their right to the ascendancy. They lost the toss after a 45-minute rain delay, and were sent into bat in overcast conditions, and when Craig Kieswetter was bowled through the gate in Mortaza's first over for a second-ball duck, the prospect of further embarrassment could not be ruled out.

Strauss and Trott, however, responded to the setback with an initial volley of boundaries - including a brace of fours as Shafiul Islam strayed onto Trott's pads, and an agenda-setting six from Strauss as Mashrafe dropped short - before settling back into a holding pattern to ease the score along to 45 for 1 at the end of the 10-over Powerplay.

Shafiul, whose crucial final wicket had sealed the Bristol victory, this time conceded 97 runs in nine overs, with Strauss dismantling his line and length, before Bopara crushed him in a final over that cost 28.

Mashrafe did his best to keep England on a tight leash in an unchanged eight-over spell that yielded just 17 runs, before the introduction of the spinners, Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan, provided the batsmen with another challenge to surmount. Strauss in particular showed a deftness of touch with two well-timed reverse sweeps for four off Shakib, before Trott drove Shafiul to long-on to bring up his second fifty in consecutive innings from 70 balls.

At the halfway mark of the innings, England were sitting pretty on 117 for 1, and having established their platform, the pair dived in with relish. Strauss nudged Shakib for a single to reach his hundred from 106 deliveries, and then cut loose with a bold array of improvisatory strokes, including a variation on Eoin Morgan's ambidextrous "paddywhack", and a bona fide right-hander's nurdle to third man (or rather, fine leg). He needed just 29 more deliveries to rush to his second score of 150 in ODIs - the other also came against Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge in 2005.

Trott maintained a more measured approach, as is his wont, picking off his runs with clips, drives and pulls as he capitalised on the absence of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, and built on his double-hundred in the Lord's Test back in May with another unflappable performance. A performance was demanded of England after the events of the weekend, and with the bat at least, they have not disappointed.